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94
Programs of the
tmpioyment Standards
Administration
U.S. Department of Labor
Employment Standards Administration
Pam ESA-1 (Rev.
June 1987
■<H
MAJOR PROGRAMS OF
THE EMPLOYMENT
STANDARDS
ADMINISTRATION,
U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR
The Employment Standards
Administration (ESA) has the
authority to correct a wide range of
unfair employment practices.
Laws and regulations setting
employment standards, providing
workers' compensation to those
injured on their jobs, and requiring
Federal contractors and subcontractors
to provide equal employment
opportunity are among those
administered and enforced by ESA.
ESA is an organization of about
4,000 employees, who are located in
offices throughout the country to
make the ESA programs as
accessible as possible to the public.
The Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Employment Standards is
responsible for ESA's activities and
serves as its administrator.
Although ESA was formed in 1971,
its three component offices— the
Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs, the Office of
Workers' Compensation Programs,
and the Wage and Hour Division-
have long-established identities of
their own.
OFFICE OF FEDERAL
CONTRACT COMPLIANCE
PROGRAMS
The forerunner of the Office of
Federal Contract Compliance
Programs (OFCCP) was established
in 1965 to administer Executive
Order 11246. The Order calls for
government-wide efforts to assure
that Federal contractors and
subcontractors or contractors with
Federally assisted construction
contracts do not discriminate against
any employee or applicant for
employment because of race, color,
religion, or national origin, and that
such contractors take affirmative
action to hire and promote in a
nondiscriminatory manner. In 1967
the Executive Order was amended to
also prohibit discrimination based on
sex. OFCCP in its present form is
the result of a consolidation of the
contract compliance responsibilities
of various Federal agencies; this
reorganization took place in 1978.
Two laws enacted by Congress to
promote the employment of
handicapped workers and veterans
fall under OFCCP's jurisdiction.
These are Section 503 of the 1973
Rehabilitation Act and the affirmative
action provision of the Vietnam-Era
Veterans' Readjustment Assistance
Act of 1974. These laws provide that
Federal contractors and
subcontractors must take affirmative
action to hire and promote qualified
handicapped people, Vietnam-era
veterans, and disabled veterans of all
wars.
Equal employment opportunity
specialists conduct compliance
reviews and investigate complaints to
determine whether Federal
contractors and subcontractors are
meeting their obligations to provide
equal employment opportunities for
women, minorities, handicapped
individuals, Vietnam-era and disabled
veterans.
All three programs are designed to
identify employment discrimination
and provide remedies for victims of
discrimination.
Contractors and subcontractors
who fail to take appropriate
affirmative action or fail to remedy
employment discrimination may face
legal proceedings which could result
in their debarment from government
contract work or cancellation of their
contracts.
OFFICE OF WORKERS'
COMPENSATION
PROGRAMS
The Office of Workers'
Compensation Programs (OWCP)
began in 1916, when an organization
was established to administer claims
under the Federal Employees'
Compensation Act. The office has
existed since that time under various
names.
Under this Act, benefits are now
available to about three million
Federal white-collar and blue-collar
employees, as well as to several
other groups of workers brought
under this Act through amendments,
such as members of the Peace
Corps and VISTA volunteers.
OWCP also administers the
Longshore and Harbor Workers'
Compensation Act of 1927. This Act
covers all maritime workers for job-
related injury, illness, or death on the
navigable waters of the U.S. as well
as employees working on adjoining
piers, docks, and terminals, plus a
number of other groups of workers
included through extension of the
Act. Compensation, under this law, is
paid by insurance carriers or by
employers who are self-insured.
Payment of black lung benefits
under the Black Lung Benefits
Reform Act of 1977, as amended, is
the third major program administered
by OWCP. It provides monthly
payments and medical treatment to
coal miners totally disabled from
pneumoconiosis (black lung) arising
from their employment in the nation's
coal mines, or monthly payments to
their surviving dependents.
WAGE AND HOUR
DIVISION
The Wage and Hour Division was
established in 1938 to administer the
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
which includes minimum wage,
overtime pay, and child labor
provisions.
When the new law went into effect
on October 24, 1938, only about 12
million workers were covered. From
this limited beginning, the Act's
coverage of workers gradually has
expanded. Over the half-century, six
major amendments have been
enacted to increase the minimum
wage. Three amendments— those in
1961, 1966 and 1974— also extended
the Act's coverage to more workers,
including some categories of
employees of State and local
governments. In 1985, as a result of
the Supreme Court's Garcia decision,
FLSA became applicable to 7.7
million additional State and local
government employees.
Today over 73 million full-time and
part-time workers in the private
sector and in Federal, State and
local governments are protected by
the FLSA.
The Wage and Hour Division's
responsibility also has grown to
include other laws and regulations
which protect workers' wages and
working conditions.
Wage and Hour Division
compliance officers across the
country conduct investigations of
employers covered by the various
laws which the division administers,
to determine whether workers are
being paid in compliance with the
laws. The division annually recovers
tens of millions of dollars in back pay
for workers who have been illegally
underpaid.
The Wage and Hour Division is
also responsible for laws setting
wage and hour standards for Federal
contractors. The Davis-Bacon Act
and Related Acts require that
covered construction workers receive
at least the prevailing wages and
fringe benefits paid on similar
projects in the area. The Service
Contract Act requires that prevailing
wages and fringe benefits be paid to
most employees working on Federal
contracts principally for services,
such as laundry and dry cleaning,
maintenance and guard service.
The Wage and Hour Division is
also responsible for investigating
complaints filed by employees who
allege that their employers
discriminated against them for
actions they took to further the
purposes of various environmental
protection laws.
Improving conditions for migrant
farm workers is also an area of
responsibility of the Wage and Hour
Division. The Migrant and Seasonal
Agricultural Worker Protection Act
protects migrant and seasonal
agricultural workers in their dealings
with farm labor contractors,
agricultural employers, agricultural
associations, and providers of
migrant housing. All persons and
organizations subject to the Act must
observe certain rules when
recruiting, soliciting, hiring,
employing, transporting, or housing
these workers or when furnishing
them to other employers.
The Wage and Hour Division also
investigates for compliance with
recordkeeping requirements under
the employer sanctions provisions of
the Immigration Reform and Control
Act. Employers subject to the Act
have certain recordkeeping and
reporting responsibilities
documenting the legal employability
of their workers.
PUBLIC INFORMATION
AND CONSUMER
AFFAIRS
The ESA Office of Information and
Consumer Affairs is responsible for
informing the public about the
programs administered by ESA.
Program activities are publicized
through various methods including
press releases, feature stories,
consumer fact sheets, and
pamphlets.
If you would like additional
information on any of the ESA
programs, contact the Director, ESA
Office of Information and Consumer
Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor,
Room C4331, 200 Constitution Ave.,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.
FIELD OFFICES
To meet the needs of the public
across the country, ESA has offices
in more than 350 cities. These
offices aid in the administration and
enforcement of programs and
provide direct access for those who
have questions or complaints. Check
your phone directory for a listing in
your area. The addresses of our 10
regional offices, and the States they
serve, are:
REGION I
(Conn., Me., Mass.,
N.H., R.I., Vt.)
JFK Federal Building
Room 1612-C
Boston, Mass. 02203
REGION II
(N.J., N.Y., Puerto
Rico, Virgin Islands)
201 Varick Street
Room 750
New York, N.Y. 10014
REGION III
(Del., D.C., Md.,
Pa., Va., W. Va.)
3535 Market Street
Gateway Building, Room 15230
Philadelphia, Pa. 19104
REGION IV
(Ala., Fla., Ga., Ky.,
Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn.)
1317 Peachtree St., N.E.
Room 105
Atlanta, Ga. 30367
REGION V
(III., Ind., Mich.,
Minn., Ohio, Wise.)
230 South Dearborn Street
8th Floor
Chicago, III. 60604
REGION VI
(Ark., La., N.M.,
Okla., Tex.)
Federal Office Building
525 Griffin Street
Room 800
Dallas, Texas 75202
REGION VII
(Iowa, Kan., Mo.,
Neb.)
Federal Office Building
911 Walnut St., Room 2000
Kansas City, Mo. 64106
REGION VIII
(Colo., Mont., N.D.,
S.D., Utah, Wyo.)
Federal Office Building
1961 Stout St., Room 1490
Denver, Colo. 80294
REGION IX
(Ariz., Calif., Hawaii,
Nev., Guam and various
Pacific Islands)
Federal Office Building
71 Stevenson Place
Room 930
San Francisco, Calif.
94105
REGION X
(Alaska, Idaho, Ore.,
Wash.)
Federal Office Building
Room 4141
909 First Avenue
Seattle, Wash. 98174
U. S. Department of Labor
Employment Standards Administration
Washington, D.C. 20210
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